Vehicle light reflector



May 25 1926. 1,585,995

0. E. KLINE VEHICLE LIGHT REFLECTOR Filed Feb. 19, 1925 Patented May 25, 1926.

OPAL E. KLINjE, OI GLIDDEN, IOWA.

VEHICLE LIGHT REFLECTOR.

Application filed February 19, 1925. Serial No. 10,284.

The object of my invention is to provide an eflicient light reflector of inexpensive construction.

Still another object is to provide a reflector of such shape that all the light reflected therefrom will evenly illuminate a circle of any desired diameter.

Still a further object is to provide a plurality of cone shaped sections formed to provide a plurality of inclined surfaces abutting against each other so that rays of light reflected therefrom will give the maximum of lighting qualities.

Still another object is to provide a nonreflecting portion on the reflector so that no dark spot caused by the shadow of the bulb, will appear within the evenly illuminated cincule of light.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the ob ects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawin s, in which:

'igure 1 is a front view of my improved reflector, looking at its silvered or polished surface.

Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional view through the reflector shown in a head hght casing, showing the inclined surfaces.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the reflector, showing the path 015 the reflected light as well as the various inclined surfaces.

In the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral to indicate my reflector. I provide an opening 11 at the center for allowing-a lamp socket. 12 to pass therethrough My reflector may be so made as to fit any kind of headlight casing and in Figure 2, I have shown a flange 13 to be engaged between the casing 14 and the lens 15. A rim 16 is secured to the casing 14 in an suitable manner and retains the lens an reflector 10. The usual types of head lights now in use also have an adjusting mechanism 17 for regulating the bulb 18 relative to the reflector.

Thereflecting surface of the usual parabolic reflector is a continuously changin :urve or parabola. The light reflect from such a surface, if rfect, would be m evenly illumi a h The shadow of the light, however, causes a dark spot in this circle, and dark rings also impair the illumination. These dark rings are caused by unevenesses in reflecting surface and difliculty is experienced in trymg to stamp perfect parabolic reflectors with the presses in present day use.

I have, by providing a non-reflecting portlon 19 at the center of the reflector, overcome the shadow cast by the bulb 18 which 1s the case when a reflecting portion is substituted for 19. The reason for this elimination of the shadow is because rays of light coming back to 19 will not be reflected "forward and cast a shadow of the lamp on an illuminated surface. As no reflected rays come from the portion 19 there are none to strike the bulb and be scattered thereby to cause a glare.

The center of the usual parabolic reflector illuminates the center of outside of the reflector illuminates the outside of the circle, all intermediate spaces being illuminated by the corresponding portions of the reflector.

I have overcome the dark rings and the bulb shadow by dividing my reflector into a plurality of cone sections 20, 21, 22 23, 24 and 25. j

The non-reflecting portion 19 is flat.

a circle and the.

The cone section 20 is at an angle to 19.

Each of the other cone sections is substantially the same angle relative to its adjoining section, and as they are farther away from the center they are longer.

These proportions, however, can be varied somewhat for diflere'nt bulb settings or for different types of lights such as search lights which would in many cases require a longer beam of-light, and it is not my purpose to limit myself to them.

Each cone section is slightly inclined relative to the adjacent ones.

- The solid lines in Figure 3 represent the rays of light from the bulb 18 to the reflector 10.

The dot and dash lines represent the reflected light from thelower flector and the dotted lines represent those from the top. The light shown is focused on the plane 26. and would illuminate a circle on it. In actual use, however, the lane 26 would be much farther away an the circle of light much larger. It is shown as in Figure 3 for the purpose of illustrating the gpaths of the rays of ht.

; n1 ne A, B, D, E

alf of the refrom the bulb 18 to the upper surface of the cone section 25. These are reflected as shown by the dash lines A, B, C, D, and E, on to the plane 26 and evenly illuminate it. The rays reflected from each of the other cone sections take a similar path.

From the foregoing, it Will be seen that the plane 26 is evenly illuminated by light reflected from each of the cone shaped sec tions.

My reflector may be composed of any number of cone sections within certain limits. each section designed to illuminate the same circle. By so illuminating the circle, the shadow of the bulb is eliminated and also the likelihood of dark rings, because each spot of the circle is illuminated by as many rays from the reflector as there are cone sections.

Some changes may be made in the construc'tion and arrangement of the various parts of my invention, without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim as my invention:

A light reflector comprising a series of reflecting surfaces, each section comprising an annular section of a cone, the width of each section increasing from the center to the periphery of the reflector and the height of each cone, of which one reflecting surface is'a part, decreasing toward the center of the reflector and vice versa whereby the re flected light from each reflector illuminates the same circle.

Des Moines, Iowa, February 9, 19:25.

OPAL E. KLTNE. 

